Electronic article merchandising (EAM) is the use of electronic systems to deter and control theft from retail stores. It is one of several article security systems used in retail stores, libraries and other establishments where theft of articles is a problem. Such systems are more generally referred to as electronic article surveillance or electronic article security systems (EAS). EAS systems employ passive electronic circuits affixed to articles in such establishments that cause the activation of monitoring devices at the exits from the establishments.
The circuits, referred to as targets or markers, are made in the form of disposable paper targets and reusable flexible or hard plastic targets. The devices at the exits of the establishments each include a transmitter, a receiver and an alarm. The transmitter emits a signal that activates the circuit in the target when unauthorized removal of the article from the establishment occurs.
The activation of the target circuit causes the circuit to modify, retransmit or otherwise communicate a signal back to the device where it is detected by the receiver. When the receiver detects a signal from the target circuit, it activates the alarm. For authorized removal of the article from the establishment, activation of the alarm is prevented by removal of reusable targets from the articles before removal of the article from the establishment, by bypassing the exit device where the removal of the article is properly accounted for, or by deactivation of the target by a deactivation device. Deactivation devices may, for example, be in the form of non-contact plate shaped signal generating devices at a checkout lane or other point-of-sale location. Various EAS systems and the components thereof are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,321,586, 4,384,281, 4,598,276, 4,660,025, 5,081,445, 5,103,234, 5,121,103 and 5,353,001, for example.
Disposable paper targets are usually in the form of flat, thin rectangular laminates, one to three inches on a side, fixed to articles of merchandise by pressure sensitive or other types of adhesive. These paper targets are sometimes imprinted with text, graphics or bar code information. Paper targets are either applied to the product at the vendor level or imbedded in the product or package at the point-of-manufacture. Such targets or markers are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,835,524, 5,103,210, 5,142,270, 5,182,544 and 5,432,499. These patents, and the other patents referred to above are hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.
Application of a target to an article can undesirably alter the appearance of the article or obscure text information or graphics on the article. Often the design of an article or its package occupies most of the available surface leaving no area on which a target can be applied without covering important information or interfering with the visual appearance of the article. The preprinting of the target with text or graphics relating to the product can not always be carried out so as to provide a target that, when affixed to the article, is compatible with the article design.
The affixing of a target to an article in a clearly visible location in an establishment in which not all of the articles are provided with targets may aid an experienced thief having the ability to select for theft only those articles that are not marked with such targets. Concealment of the target on an article, at either the vendor's location or at the point-of-manufacture, is considered to increase overall article security, but is often impractical. Proposals have been made to place targets on bottles beneath a non-pressure-sensitive gummed label wrapped entirely around the article, or to laminate a target between layers of a cardboard package. The methods and devices used to carry out these proposals have been article specific, and lacked widespread utility.
The prior art has further experienced problems with the production of static electric charge when dispensing targets, particularly disposable paper targets, where the targets having pressure sensitive adhesive thereon that are dispensed by peeling them from a continuous web. The sudden discharge of such static charge can destroy the EAS target circuits.
Accordingly, there has been a need for application of targets to articles that do not obscure or otherwise interfere with the labeling marking of the articles, and particularly, for concealing the target on the article.